US Court of Appeals Strikes Down Net Neutrality Rules

On January 2, a US court of appeals ruled against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) attempt to reinstate net neutrality rules. The ruling states that the federal government cannot regulate internet providers as telecommunications services and likely concludes a legal battle that began in 2015.

Under the FCC’s proposed rules, net neutrality would require internet service providers to treat all legal data and users equally. This would prohibit them from restricting or slowing access to specific competitors’ web pages.

The FCC’s stance was initially upheld by the administration of then-president Barack Obama in 2015 and reversed by Donald Trump in 2017. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to restore net neutrality rules. The agency did so briefly in April last year, but the appeals court halted those rules pending review. The court finally struck them down this month, only weeks before Donald Trump begins his second term.

The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the current classification of broadband services under “information services,” rejecting the FCC’s effort to reclassify them under “telecommunications services.” That classification would have given the FCC broader oversight powers.

“Today’s ruling confirming that broadband internet access is an ‘information service’ is not only the proper reading of the statute but a victory for American consumers,” reads a joint statement by the United States Telecom Association, whose members include companies like AT&T and Verizon.

Jessica Rosenworcel, current FCC chairwoman, urged Congress to step in with net neutrality protections in an open statement: “Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair. With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.”

Reinstating the “Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order” would have also given the FCC further privileges to enforce cybersecurity protections over telecom providers. This is especially relevant in the wake of a massive hacking campaign of telecom firms by the Chinese group “Salt Typhoon”. An attack which government figures have called the worst in US history.

Though net neutrality has been struck down at the federal level, the ruling does not affect state-level net neutrality laws.